Editorial: Rutgers scandal should surprise no one

The behavior that led to Rutgers University basketball coach Mike Rice's disgrace is abhorrent, but it should shock no one. Rice's courtside histrionics are renown - and just as unacceptable as the homophobic, misogynistic tirade that got him canned. The question we should be wrestling with is why Rice's past behavior has been not just tolerated, but rewarded, for so long.

The short answer, of course, is money.

Rice lost his job last week after a video that showed the coach physically and verbally abusing his players during practice went viral on the Internet. Within days, Athletic Director Tim Pernetti, who after seeing the video had let Rice off with a suspension and $50,000 fine, resigned. More Rutgers officials have quit since in an effort to calm the uproar.

None of this would have happened were it not for Eric Murdock, the fired assistant coach who provided the video to ESPN. Murdock alleges he was wrongfully fired after bringing his concerns to the athletic director. Murdock is now seeking a $950,000 termination payment, raising questions from some about his motives.

Money is always the common denominator in any NCAA transaction.

Rice, himself earning $650,000 a season, was under enormous pressure to win at a school moving to the Big 10, a move under negotiation just about the time the incident came to the attention of Rutgers President Robert Barchi, himself now a target for the university's failure to fire the coach sooner.

As it was in Penn State, plausible deniability provides university presidents and administrators with sufficient cover to not see what is plainly evident if it threatens the prestige - measured by commercial value - of their program.

The interests of the student-athletes - free labor in a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry - are far from paramount, regardless of what those university sponsored commercials aired between halves may say.

Speaking of entertainment, sports commentators who heap praise on those "fiery" and "passionate" coaches who frequently need to be restrained by their assistants are as complicit as the coaches themselves. How often have we heard a sports journalist step up to deplore the misdeeds of an individual while defending the integrity of the sport, or the program, or the players, or "the kids?"

Yes, it's a business - a business with incredibly high stakes that plays on the hopes and dreams of our young while selling cynical, deeply flawed ethos about what it means to be a competitor, or the price of victory.

And speaking of business, what of the consumers? Should we not be demanding better?

What's been interesting about most of the coverage of this scandal is that while Rice's homophobic rants has caught considerable attention, his misogynistic insults of his young men, using vulgar slang for a woman's vagina, have merited barely a mention.

In the wake of the Steubenville, Ohio, rape trial and verdict, many wondered how so many young people, perpetrators and witnesses, could have been so callous or indifferent to the suffering of a helpless young woman.

The answer, it seems to us, is that denigrating people who are physically weaker, or are perceived weaker, is simply acceptable in pop culture, a culture that is heavily influenced by American sports and vainglorious displays of power and dominance, displays that are emulated by our young people who aspire to similar glory.

Young people need better role models than the likes of Mike Rice, and no institution charged with the education of our future leaders should tolerate coaches who use intimidation, insults or anger to "motivate" their players.

Luckily, such role models exist in collegiate sports - and closer to home in many of our local high school programs. But let's not kid ourselves, those role models do not represent the whole. They should.